


Can't Help Falling In Love

by prideandfangirling



Category: The Mindy Project
Genre: F/M, Operation: Tonic Water
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-13
Updated: 2014-04-13
Packaged: 2018-01-19 04:54:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1456228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prideandfangirling/pseuds/prideandfangirling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Slightly AU, slightly song fic-y, hopefully very fluffy. My contribution for Operation: Tonic Water.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Can't Help Falling In Love

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to both alittlenutjob and phunkybrewster for making this challenge happen and posting it on tumblr. Hope you guys enjoy the story! xo
> 
> Reminder/disclaimer that neither the song "Can't Help Falling In Love," which was originally preformed by Elvis Presley and covered by many different artists since (I was listening to the Ingrid Michaelson and Fleet Foxes's covers while writing this!) nor "The Mindy Project" and its characters belong to me.

_\---_

_Wise men say only fools rush in_  
 _But I can't help falling in love with you_  
 _Shall I stay_  
 _Would it be a sin_  
 _If I can't help falling in love with you_

_\---_

            “You know what would be really great?” asks Danny as he walks into the break room of Shulman & Associates.

            Mindy briefly looks up at Danny before returning her attention to the frozen yogurt she was having for lunch. “What, Danny? What would be really great for you?”

            Danny lowers himself into the chair across from Mindy and begins to read his newspaper. “If a certain doctor would stop listening to certain song over and over again.” He meets Mindy’s eyes over the top of the paper. “If I have to hear the words ‘Dust yourself off and try again’ one more time I swear to god, Mindy-“

            “Ex-squeeze me? That song is a classic, thank you very much,” Mindy begins indignantly. “And show some respect for Aaliyah!”

            “Mindy,” sighs Danny. “You’ve been playing that song on repeat for the last week. I don’t mean to disrespect the late Aaliyah but don’t you have anything else on your iPod?”

            After piercing a strawberry with her bright pink plastic spork, Mindy points it towards Danny, flicking red droplets of juice onto the newspaper. “I found one of the mix cd’s Gwen made for me back in college and I feel that ‘Try Again’ is a very motivating and uplifting song. Would you rather me play ‘Bye, Bye, Bye’ by ‘N SYNC? Because that can totally be arranged.” Mindy pops the strawberry into her mouth and waits for Danny’s response.

            Huffing at his now slightly stained paper, Danny places it on the table and crosses his arms. “Please don’t. But why do you even need to play something to motivate and uplift you? What in the world could bring you down? You’re always happy.” Danny pauses, a slight smirk playing on his face. “Did Britney shave her head again?”

            “What?! Did she? Hold on, let me check Perez Hilton. Wait,” Mindy suddenly stops, squinting her eyes at Danny. “I hate you. Ugh. Why do you even care about what’s going on with me?”

            “When my office is next door to yours and I have to listen to your music. Come on, we’re partners. You can talk to me. What’s wrong?”

            Mindy stares at her cup of melting yogurt before pushing it away. “Nothing’s wrong.”

            Danny raises an incredulous eyebrow at Mindy’s comment. “Nothing? Nothing at all?” He shakes his head. “I don’t believe you.”

            “Okay, fine!” Mindy says, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “Since you’re going to bug me so much about it I guess I’ll just tell you. One of the other doctors at the hospital told me I get too emotionally attached to my patients. He said I wasn’t being professional.” Mindy tries to shrug nonchalantly. “It hurt me because I love my patients and I just wish for every single one of them to be happy and have the best care possible. It’s not just about practicing medicine to me.”

            “Who was the doctor?” Danny asks gruffly.

            “Sorry?”

            “Who was the doctor that said you weren’t being professional, Mindy?” Danny repeats, still in a rough tone.

            Mindy stares at Danny and blinks twice before answering. “It was Warner.”

            Danny lets out a loud snort before picking up his newspaper and gently shaking it open with a small flourish. “Warner is an old jackass. I wouldn’t worry about him. He probably forgot to take his fiber that day.”

            “Warner is in charge of his own practice, Danny. He has decades of experience whereas we are barely out of our residencies. Maybe he knows what he’s talking about,” Mindy says. She’s trying to not let Danny know how badly it hurt for Warner to call her out when she was only attempting to make her patients feel more comfortable.

            Sighing, Danny puts down his paper once again. “Listen, Mindy. Do you remember what Dr. Shulman said about me when he hired us for the practice?”

            “That you were the best resident he ever saw in the history of forever or something.” Mindy replies, rolling her eyes at Danny.

            “Well, he’s right. I was the best resident,” Danny smiles. “But we’re not in our residency anymore, Mindy. We’re partners at an amazing Manhattan practice. Here,” he leans forward, putting his elbows on top of his paper. “Let me tell you a little secret. I might be the best at what I do, but I wish I was better at talking to patients. I’ve never seen anyone converse with patients the way you do. Have any of your patients ever told you to shut up?”

            Mindy shakes her head. “No,” she says softly.

            “And has anyone ever told you that their experience would have been better if they had a cold and apathetic doctor at their side instead of a caring one that listens to what they have to say?”

            Mindy shakes her head again. “No.”

            Danny leans back in his seat and picks up his paper for the third and final time. “See? Warner doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Anyone would be lucky to have you as their doctor.  If I was a woman and there wasn’t a Daniel Castellano to take care of me, I would want a Mindy Lahiri.”

            “You’re right. I am a good doctor. A damn good one. I shouldn’t listen to Warner.” Mindy gets up and throws her leftover yogurt in the trash. She begins to walk out of the break room but stops in her tracks. Mindy returns to Danny and hugs him from behind. “Thank you, Danny. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

            “Find someone else to annoy. That’s what you would do. Now, get off me!” Danny laughs and attempts to shrug Mindy off. “I have a paper to read.”

            Mindy smiles at Danny before skipping out of the break room. Shaking his head, Danny returns to his newspaper while singing Aaliyah’s ‘Try Again’ softly under his breath.

\---

_Like a river flows surely to the sea_  
 _Darling so it goes_  
 _Some things are meant to be_  
 _So take my hand, and take my whole life too_  
 _Cause I can't help falling in love with you_

\---

            “Please! Pretty, pretty, pretty please!”

            “No.”

            “Pleeeeease!”

            “No!”

            “Danny, come on! Please, please, please!” Mindy begs from in front of his desk. “Go see ‘Catching Fire’ with me! Gwen says it’s too much for Riley to handle. I mean, I don’t really get it because the kids have to be, what? Twelve years old? Yeah, I think it’s twelve years old to be entered into the Games. Riley isn’t even ten yet! She wouldn’t even be at the Reaping.”

            “Mindy! Spoilers!” Danny shouts. “Some people haven’t read the book yet!”

            “I know for a fact that not only did you and Betsy read the entire series but the two of you are the only ones in the office, besides me, interested in it thus I’m not spoiling anyone.” Mindy pauses for a moment. “Come on! Please, Danny! I’ll even pay for everything!”

            Danny’s jaw drops and he stares at Mindy as if she’s grown two heads. “Uh, if we’re going to go together then it’s only right that the gentleman pays.” He points at himself with both of his thumbs before continuing. “That would be me.”

            Mindy jumps up and down, clapping her hands. “You’ll go with me then?” she asks excitedly. “I was going to go Friday after work. Is that okay or do you have plans already?”

            “I was planning to go after work Friday myself,” Danny replies, smiling sheepishly at Mindy. “Do you want to leave together after work or do you want me to go and pick you up?”

            “You don’t have to pick me up, Danny. I can just meet you at the theater. It’s really not that big of a deal.”

            “Hold on.” After a few minutes of typing and clicking around on his computer, while ignoring Mindy’s questions on what he was doing, Danny hits the enter button on his keyboard with an air of finality. “There. I just bought two tickets for Friday. We’ll leave after work, all right? And I’ll walk you home because-“ Danny drifts off, unable to figure out a reason on why he would be walking Mindy home after a friendly trip to the movies.

            “Because your mother raised you to be a perfect gentleman and letting a woman walk home all alone would go against everything you were taught?” Mindy finishes with a smile.

            Danny returns Mindy’s smile. “Something like that.”

            “Then it’s a date, Danny.”

            “It’s a date.”

            Mindy is akin to a little kid on Christmas come Friday; every time she passes Danny she lights up in excitement and anticipation for their trip to the movies while Danny just smiles, shaking his head at her. As soon as Mindy is done with her last patient she pulls her coat on and bounces into Danny’s office, where he is already waiting for her. Danny tries to pretend to be annoyed when Mindy grabs his hand and drags him towards the elevators but he is secretly thrilled about the contact between the two of them. Once they’re at the movies Danny goes to the ticket booth to pick up their tickets and Mindy heads to the concession stand for snacks. She wants to pay Danny back but knows he’s too stubborn and food would be her sneaky way of making things even. They meet up at the entrance to their theater and Danny rolls his eyes when he sees the popcorn, nachos, candy, and slushies Mindy has picked up for the two of them. After they’re seated Mindy hands Danny a box of Goobers and he smiles at the fact that she remembered his favorite movie theater candy despite mentioning it offhand only once before.

            “I liked it! What did you think, Danny?” Mindy asks as they’re leaving the theater.

            Danny steps aside to let Mindy pass while he holds the glass door open for her. The brisk late November air hits them and he notices Mindy tighten the scarf around her neck. “It was pretty true to the book.”

            “But?” prompts Mindy.

            “I was looking forward to seeing Katniss and Peeta watch the previous Games, especially the part with Haymitch, but the scene wasn’t in the movie. I just thought it was really interesting to read and I would’ve liked to see it, you know?”

            Mindy nods. “I don’t know how to feel Johanna. I think they tried too hard but I still liked her. Oh!” Mindy stops to turn towards Danny. “I did think that Finnick was perfect! I’m also glad to know that I’m not the only one who eats sugar cubes.”

            “Come on now. Don’t stop in the middle of the street, Min.” Danny puts his arm around Mindy and steers her back in the direction of her apartment. “I thought the beach scene went by a little too quickly. I mean, it still got the point across.”

            “I can see that,” Mindy says thoughtfully. “But I can’t believe the same guy who plays President Snow is Mr. Bennet from ‘Pride and Prejudice!’ Mr. Bennet is the sweetest and gentlest dad ever and in this he’s so mean.” She leans into Danny and takes a deep breath before recognizing the faint scent of his cologne as the Hugo Boss she gave to him last year for Christmas.

            “Well, that’s why Donald Sutherland is a phenomenal actor,” explains Danny with a small chuckle. “You never see him act as the same twice.”

            “What does that saying even mean? Obviously we’ve seen him as President Snow in the first movie and now this one. We’ll see him as President Snow for two more movies too. He obviously has to act the same in all of them.”

            The walk to Mindy’s apartment feels short but they’ve managed to talk about everything under the sun. Danny learns that Mindy’s favorite book is ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ and Mindy learns that Danny’s favorite color is blue. Once they’re in front of Mindy’s stoop Danny moves his arm away from Mindy’s shoulders and notices how empty he feels without her by his side. They both stand awkwardly for a moment before Mindy begins to speak.

            “Thanks for going to the movies with me, Danny. I don’t think I would’ve had as much fun going by myself.” She hesitates a moment before taking a deep breath and continuing. “Or with anyone else.”

            “Me neither. We should probably do this again sometime,” Danny says tentatively. He gives Mindy a crooked smile to assure her that no matter what her answer is that they will be all right.

            Mindy bites her bottom lip and nods. “I would really like that actually. You know, ‘Divergent’ comes out-“

            “No. We are not seeing that,” interrupts Danny. “What about whatever superhero movie is out? I can complain that they didn’t do the comics of my childhood justice and you can gawk at whatever heartthrob is in the lead? Deal?”

             “Deal! Well, I guess this is it. Goodnight, Danny.”

            Mindy leans forward and wraps her arms around Danny. After his initial shock at her action, Danny embraces Mindy and kisses her on the cheek. When they separate Mindy’s brown eyes are bright with excitement and Danny can feel himself smiling like an idiot.

            “So when does the next movie come out?”

_\---_

_Like a river flows so surely to the sea_  
 _Oh my darling so it goes_  
 _Some things are meant to be_  
 _So won't you please take my hand, and take my whole life too_  
 _Cause I can't help falling in love, in love with you_  
 _Cause I can't help falling in love, falling in love,_  
 _I keep falling in love with you_

_\---_

            “Please tell me you don’t still want those ridiculous names, Min.”

            Mindy rolls over from her back and onto her side to face Danny, who is currently staring at her from over the rim of his red glasses. “What? What is so wrong with Jaden, Madison, Brie, and Piper for names?”

            Danny folds the corner of the page he’s on and then closes the book he had been reading. “First of all, we never agreed to four kids. This one,” he nods toward her swollen stomach, “was a surprise. Secondly, what we did agree to was to leave the sex of the baby as a surprise. What if it’s a girl? Are we going to name her Jaden?”

            “Why not?”

            “And lastly,” Danny continues as if Mindy hadn't interrupted him. “You thought of those names before we were even together. Is that really fair to me?” Danny asks as he breaks apart his glasses before reconnecting them around his neck. “I mean, I am half responsible for what’s growing in there right now. At the very least I think I should have some say in the name.”

            “You also wanted to be married for a year before we were to start trying for kids,” Mindy points out. “I wanted to be pregnant before our first wedding anniversary.”

            “And we both kind of got what we wanted because you gave me the best anniversary present ever when you told me you were pregnant,” Danny says, remembering the box Mindy presented to him at dinner that held the impossibly small pair of white baby shoes. He leans over and gives Mindy a kiss on the top of her head. “What are you trying to get at?”

            “Not sure,” Mindy admits. “I was hoping you would give up.”

            Danny smiles down at his wife. “I’m not the kind of guy to give up. You of all people should know this.”

            Mindy pushes herself up to a sitting position and rubs her six month belly. “And you of all people should know how glad I am that you didn’t give up. Okay, time for names. Is there anything you like?”

            “For a girl or a boy?”

            “Uh, either works, babe. Remember we have a 50/50 chance no matter what. I mean, you were the first born and you were a boy; I was also the first born but I was a girl. Then we both had brothers born after us so if we choose to have a second kid we can probably guarantee it’ll be a boy,” Mindy says, twisting her mouth to the side in thought.

            “Okay, okay. I’ll give one boy name and one girl name and then you’ll do the same. And you cannot use the ones you've already thought of,” Danny warns.

            Mindy rolls her eyes at her husband but nods her head in agreement. “Fine. Go ahead and start then.”

            Danny rests his head against the headboard, his eyebrows furrowed together in concentration. “Sophia and Michael.”

            “I like Sophia!” Mindy responds cheerfully. “It’s a good fit for our exotic half Indian, half Italian baby. Or should I say bambino? And can the baby also be considered half Bostonian and half Staten Islander? Does that even make sense?”

            “You’re cute when you try to speak Italian. What else you got?”

            “Cappuccino?”

            “Baby names, Mindy! Not what other Italian words you kind of, sort of know.” Danny sighs. “Do you want me to go again?”

            “No! That’s cheating!” Mindy sweeps her long dark hair over her shoulder and begins to braid it absentmindedly. “I like Paz and Luther.”

            Danny waves his hands around. “Absolutely not! My future daughter will not be one letter away from a candy and I refuse for my son to be named after the Idris Elba character on that BBC show you’ve been watching. Bet you didn’t think I could tell what you’ve been watching on Netflix, huh?”

            “Danny, come on! You’re the only person to ever confuse Pez and Paz. The only reason I even made the connection is because I keep Pez candies as an emergency in the little skinny pocket in my jeans. Which, by the way, did you know pregnancy jeans don’t have that little pocket? I feel lied to.” Mindy pouts.

            “What about gender neutral names?” Danny suggests.

            “Like Morgan?”

            Danny’s eyes widen at the mention of the nurse’s name. “Not like Morgan. Could you imagine? He would go around saying we named the baby after him.”

            Mindy nods her head in agreement. “There’d be no living with him after that. Bailey? Or Robin? I like Robin. It’s unique without being weird. I am all for choosing different names but I draw the line at fruits and locations.”

            “I like Robin,” Danny begrudgingly admits.  “Jamie could work too.”

            Eyes sparkling with excitement, Mindy nods enthusiastically at Danny’s suggestion. “Like Jamie Lannister from ‘Games of Thrones?’ He’s hot even though-“

            “NO.”

             “You don’t even know what I was going to say!” Mindy complains. She sighs and scoots closer to Danny, putting her head on his chest. “Do you know what I want more than anything?”

            Danny begins to brush the hair back from Mindy’s forehead. “Hmm?” he murmurs.

            “To have a healthy and happy family with you. I can’t wait to have this baby and however many more we agree to have. I can’t wait until you’re gray and wrinkly with age and then I’m over here like a smokin’ hot trophy wife on your arm.” Mindy pauses when she feels Danny’s chest shake in silent laughter. “I don’t know why you’re laughing, mister. You’re already getting old, hush.” She bursts into a fit of giggles when she feels Danny smack her behind in retaliation. “I want the good, the bad, and the ugly. I want to watch you make gingerbread houses with the kids every Christmas and argue with you about extending their curfew. I’m not quite sure when you changed from being the handsome jerk at the practice to being my handsome husband, but I’m glad you’re the last thing I see before going to sleep every night and the first thing I wake up to every morning.”

            Picking up Mindy’s hand, Danny places a gentle kiss on each of her knuckles. “I couldn't help falling in love with you, Min. I still fall in love with you more and more each day. You’re going to be a wonderful mother and I can't wait to be there every step of the way with you.”

            Snuggling deeper into Danny’s sweatshirt Mindy sighs contentedly. “I guess it was just meant to be then. I love you.”

            “I love you, too.”


End file.
